volume of water.  When this dam burst, an avalanche of earth and rock, swept onward by a huge wave, rushed down the canon, leaving complete destruction in its wake.  Every bridge in its course was carried away, and the road was left in such condition that it would have cost $300,000 to open it for traffic.  Then Providence, having apparently done its worst, relented and sent another typhoon which washed away most of the debris left by the first one, uncovering the road-bed and making it possible to reopen communication for $50,000.

The cost of maintaining the Benguet Road has proved excessive.  Mountains tower above it on both sides to a height of four to seven thousand feet and the drainage basin which finds its outlet down the narrow gorge through which the road runs is enormous.  Even so, under ordinary climatic conditions its maintenance does not offer very exceptional difficulties, as much of it is blasted out of rock; but during extraordinarily heavy storms the danger of destruction by overwhelming floods is great.

While a century may pass before there is another storm like the one which brought down the terrific slide above described, there may be one at any time, and when the railroad has once reached Baguio, it is hardly probable that such extensive repairs as were necessary after the last destructive typhoon will ever again be made, especially as the horse trail built on a carriage road grade from Baguio to Naguilian in the lowlands has been widened little by little, until it is now safe for small automobiles.  The maintenance of the bridges alone, on the Benguet Road, is a very formidable item, while there is only one short bridge on the Naguilian Road before the province of Union is reached.  As it runs on or near the crests of ridges all the way, there are no extensive watersheds above it, and it is not liable to serious injury during the most violent storms.  The total cost of the Benguet portion of this road to date [512] has been only $33,405.  This stretch is seventeen and a half miles in length and does not include that portion of the road which lies within the city of Baguio.  The total distance from the centre of Baguio to Bauang, the nearest railroad station on the coast, is thirty-four miles.

With the completion of the new government buildings and the transfer of the several bureaus to Baguio for the season of 1910 a real boom began.  The old sanatorium building had long been leased to a private individual who used it for hotel purposes, adding to it from time to time.  A second hotel had been built.  The railroad had been extended to Camp One and a regular automobile service established for the convenience of the public between Camp One and Baguio.  The Jesuits had constructed a great rest house and meteorological observatory on a commanding hill.  The Dominicans had purchased a neighbouring hill top and prepared to erect thereon a very large reenforced concrete building to serve for college purposes and as a rest house for members of the order who required a change of climate.